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Gareth Fullerton

Padraig McCrory next fight news as Jamie Conlan outlines 'big' plans

Jamie Conlan says talks are ongoing to secure Padraig McCrory a "big fight" in Belfast on May 27.

'The Hammer' looks set to provide chief support to Michael Conlan's potential world title shot against Luis Alberto Lopez at the SSE Arena.

And it has emerged that McCrory could face Yamaguchi Falcão in a massive world title eliminator for the WBA super-middleweight belt currently held by Canelo Alvarez.

Read more: Michael Conlan next fight plans as brother Jamie offers positive update

Conlan Boxing supremo Jamie says initial talks with a have been positive, with more negotiations expected over the next few days.

"We have some dialogue this week and have some people coming over from America. There is the potential for a big fight in May for Pody," Conlan told Belfast Live.

"We are hoping to have it as chief support for Michael and it will be big news. And the fairytale story of Pody McCrory is set to continue.

"We are hopeful we can get something big for Pody. We are in the early stages of things but both parties are on the same page."

Padraig McCrory became IBO world light-heavyweight champion last year (Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

McCrory enjoyed a stellar 2022 which saw him win the WBO World light-heavyweight title against Leon Bunn back in October.

He fought three times during the calendar year, earning two stoppage wins before outpointing Dmytro Fedas on the undercard of Michael Conlan vs Karim Guerfi at the SSE Arena.

It had been hoped McCrory would headline a show in Belfast on St Patrick's Day, but those plans fell through due to "a number of reasons", says Conlan.

"There were various issues which impacted on the St Patrick's Day show, with TV being one of the main ones. We had looked at different avenues," Jamie explained.

"Our initial target was Michael against Lopez as the headline, and then Lopez had a small injury which delayed things. We weren't sure if he would be ready for March.

"When we knew that wasn't happening we turned our attention to Pody and Channel 5 as he has one fight left with Wasserman. Different fights were mentioned, and in the end it didn't work with Channel 5's schedule.

"But Pody will have an opportunity in May, and that took precedence over everything else."

He added: "Pody would have been disappointed about St Patrick's Day, but he is similar to Michael in that he just controls the controllables and lets everything else take its course.

"What will be will be, and that's a great way to be. When you focus on other things then it starts eroding at you and it can affect you mentally.

"So we are hopeful Pody will go over to England next week and do some sparring with Joshua Buatsi, so he will go to England for a week and get some world-class sparring.

"That's the level he is at now, and he has to get ready for these big guys. He needs to be taken out of his comfort zone.

"It is very exciting. We are in the early stages of what we want to do, but there are some big things in the pipeline for Pody.

"It will be super-middleweight from now on, so he had to vacate his light-heavyweight world title. That was an opportunity he wanted to take because the reward outweighed the risk against Leon Bunn."

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